Amtrak To Stay On Burlington Northern Track

June 12, 1987|By Gary Washburn.

Amtrak has decided not to change the route of its California Zephyr after conducting studies that found a proposed move to Chicago & North Western tracks would not offer big enough benefits, the government-owned railroad announced Thursday.

The decision means that trains will stay on Burlington Northern tracks on the Zephyr`s segment between Chicago and Omaha, and that Naperville and Galesburg, as well as a number of towns in southern Iowa, will continue to receive service.

Geneva, De Kalb and Sterling are the Illinois communities that were likely candidates for Amtrak stops had the Chicago-to-San Francisco Zephyr been switched to the C&NW; central Iowa towns in the same category included Clinton, Cedar Rapids and Ames.

A major factor in the decision was the poor condition of westbound track, said Debbie Marciniak of Amtrak.

Switching could have meant $500,000 a year in savings and increased revenues to Amtrak, largely through increased ridership. But that figure assumed ``significant market penetration`` along a route that had not been served by passenger trains for more than 16 years, Marciniak said.

If the C&NW upgrades its westbound track enough to make the running time competitive with that on the Burlington Northern route, Amtrak may consider shifting the Zephyr, Marciniak said.